Page 163 of Ruthless Creatures
I lift my head and meet his gaze, knowing this next part is going to be bad. “Kazimir Portnov.”
David’s face instantly turns sheet white.
“Yeah. That’s pretty much everyone’s reaction when they hear his name.”
“He… he…” David swallows, blinking hard. “Did he hurt you?”
“Not physically.”
“I don’t understand.”
I try to think of a way to say it aloud that won’t sound ridiculous. There isn’t one, so I just tell him the truth.
“He came to Tahoe last September to torture me for information about you, then kill me.”
David makes a small, horrified noise. I smile grimly.
“Wait. It gets worse. Instead of being a good assassin and shooting me in the head then dumping me into the lake, he thought it would be fun to make me fall in love with him first. Which he did, the bastard.”
David’s mouth drops open. He looks like he’s about to throw up.
“I know. I’m an idiot. Apparently, I have a very specific type: mafia men who lie through their teeth to get into my pants, but have no intention of staying with me. Or keeping me alive. Anyway, fast forward five months, and Mogdonovich discovers Kage hasn’t murdered me yet. He’s still fooling around with the big dumbass he was supposed to kill. Like a cat with a mouse. You know how cats will bat mice around for a while, enjoying the hunting and maiming phase before they finally get down to business and bite the head off? That was Kage with me. But I digress—so Mogdonovich gets pissed I’m not dead and sends Viktor.”
David makes a choking sound.
“Oh, you know Viktor? Old blue eyes? Such a charmer. At least he didn’t try to make me fall in love with him. He was all business, that one. Except the joke’s on him, because he got his head blown off with a shotgun.”
David wheezes in horror. I keep talking.
“I figured out about the money and the clue in the letter because of Viktor, by the way. If he hadn’t shown up, I’d still be blissfully unaware that you were alive and Kage was playing me like a violin.”
I stop to draw a breath, but can’t. My lungs are frozen. This is when I realize my face is screwed up and my cheeks are wet.
I’m crying.
Then a deep voice from behind me says, “I was never playing you, baby. I loved you from day one.”
I whirl around. David leaps to his feet.
Both of us stare in horror at Kage, emerging from the shadows of a doorway.
His expression is stone cold, he’s got a lethal look in his eyes, and he’s holding a gun.
It’s pointed at David.
FORTY-TWO
NAT
My stomach plummets. My hands start to shake. For a long, awful moment, silence reigns. I stare at Kage, so dangerous and beautiful, and my heart breaks all over again.
I love him.
And I hate myself for loving him, this man who makes my body burn and tells the sweetest lies.
“How did you find me?” I say quietly, a tremor in my voice.
Kage keeps his deadly gaze on David when he answers. “There’s nowhere on earth you could hide from me.”
